Lonely
by NikkiNicoleLVT
Summary: Contains spoilers up through Chapter 416. My imagining of what happens after Lucy reads the letter from Natsu. Light NaLu.


Hey guys! I am back. It has been over 10 years since I have written and posted a fanfiction of any kind. This is my first FairyTail fanfic. I hope you enjoy it!

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Lucy raced through the streets of ruined Magnolia. She was fighting to see through the tears, but still she kept running.

_Stupid!_

She ran towards the dragon slayers house.

_Don't do it! Please, don't…_

She threw open the door to their cottage.

"NATSU! HAPPY!" Lucy shouted into the empty house. Her chest heaved up and down as she gasped for air. Silence was the only response. She took a few steps into cottage.

"Natsu!" She called again. "Natsu! Happy! Guys please…"

Fresh tears began to slide down her cheeks. "Nat…su…" her voice began to break. She took a few steps into the silent house. It was in its usual disarray, but she noticed most of the personal artifacts were missing. The bags that they used to travel with were gone, chest of clothes remained open showing that they had been rummaged through. Even the place where Happy kept a supply of fish was missing.

"No…" She slumped down onto the floor, the mental and physical exhaustion taking over. "Natsu…Happy…" she whispered, clutching onto the front of her shirt. She felt a familiar emptiness begin to creep through her chest. She felt the hole in her chest growing. She couldn't hold back the pain any longer and cried out, slumping over as she let her emotions out.

"WHY? WHY DID YOU LEAVE?" Lucy screamed into the floor. "Come back! Don't do this! I can't…I just…" She threw her head back, shouting to the heavens, "NATSU DON'T LEAVE! PLEASE, DON'T LEAVE ME!"

The next day, Lucy slowly walked to the rubble that was formerly the home of Fairy Tail. The sky was over cast with dark clouds blocking out the sunlight. A low grumble could be heard in the distant clouds. She passed through what used to be the two large wooden doors that opened into the great hall of the guild. It was now just a pile of wood splinters and rock. To her left was a fallen statue that was once a sculpture of a woman with wings and a beautiful face. The icon of the guild: a fairy.

_Do fairies really have tails? Do they even exist?_ Lucy numbly thought of the Master's words.

"Lucy-san!" A voice called out over the rubble.

The blonde slowly moved her head towards the direction the sound came in. Wendy jumped down from a pile of rocks and ran over to the celestial mage. Carla was hovering in the air by her side. The white exceed frowned seeing Lucy.

"Lucy…where are Happy and Natsu?" Carla asked, stopping a few yards away, still floating in the air.

Lucy bit her bottom lip and looked down towards the ground, trying to hold back tears that are on the verge of falling. She hadn't thought anymore tears could come after yesterday, but she was wrong.

"They left…they said they were going to go train for a year…and then just left…" Lucy spoke softly, almost like a whisper.

"They what?" Wendy's eyes grew larger as she looked Lucy. "Why would they just leave without saying anything to the guild?"

Lucy shook her head, keeping her eyes locked on the ground. Wendy started to reach out towards her when a large, booming voice rang out over the rubble.

"Brats, come here, there is something I have to discuss with you."

Carla, Lucy, and Wendy turned towards the center of the former guild. Glancing quickly at each other, they began to climb their way over the debris to their Master. Other guild members were collecting near the old man who was standing on what could be have been the bar that once stood in the hall. She scanned the crowd and noticed Juvia and Gray were missing.

_They must not be back from visiting Gray's home yet…_

The master waited patiently with his eyes closed as everyone gathered in front of him. He could hear the whispers spread across the crowd and waited for people to quiet down before beginning. When he opened his eyes, he saw all his children staring eagerly back at him. A lump in his throat formed that he managed to clear before speaking.

Lucy saw Erza standing towards the back of the crowd, arms crossed over her chest, patiently waiting for their Master to speak.

"Erza!" Lucy called out. The redhead turned in surprise and watched as Lucy came over to her.

"Lucy? Where are Natsu and Happy?" She asked.

"They just up and-" Lucy started to talk, but was interrupted by Marakov speaking over her.

"We have been through a lot recently. We climbed our way out into the spot of top guild on the continent by taking 1st place in the Grand Magic Games. During that time, we were faced with the destruction of the world and banned together with the other guilds in Fiore to fight for our future, a future that was trying to be stolen from us." He looked around the crowd as smiles began to break out on the faces of the members. Alzak picked Asuka up and placed her on his shoulders so she could see over the crowd.

"Not long after returning back to our home, a dark guild showed up on our doorstep and tried to destroy us. They used our own family against us to try and rip us apart from the inside. They tortured us, exploited our fears and tried to force us to give up. Yet our bond as a guild kept the light shinning brightly as we plunged into the depths of Tartaros. Again, we prevailed." He paused watching as several of the guild members began to hoot and holler, high-fiving each other and getting pumped up. Erza smiled with her eyes closed and her bangs covering half of her face. Jellal's words still echoed in her mind.

"All of you have grown tremendously since you have come to Fairy Tail. I am so proud of you," the master spoke strong words; yet his voice gave way to what was about to come.

Lucy could feel the pit in chest beginning to ache.

"Children, one of the proudest moments in a parent's life is to watch their kids grow and flourish into adults. One of the saddest moments is to accept that at this point, those children will eventually need to leave and grow outside of the nest that has been created for them. The time has come for Fairy Tail to disband. "

Gasps came from the crowd. Panic began to set in as the words registered in Lucy's brain. "What? N-no! Why? Why are we disbanding?" She called out from the back of the crowd.

"It's time for everyone to follow the path they have started. It is time for you brats to truly spread your wings and fly. You were all meant for great things, things greater than what you have been able to accomplish here. You must now go out into the world and follow the paths you have been destined for." Master closed his eyes for a moment. "This is may be the end of the physical Fairy Tail, yet the adventure will continue to live on in each and everyone of you." He opened his eyes, fresh tears filling them. "Just remember…"

"Rule number 1," Mirajane took a step forward, looking up at the master with fresh tears in here eyes, "You must never reveal sensitive information about Fairy Tail to others for as long as you live."

"Rule number 2," Levy spoke out and began writing her script magic in the air, "You must never use former contacts you met through being in the guild for personal gain."

"Rule number 3," Ezra walked to the front of the crowd and stood in front of the master, smiling a bittersweet smile. "Though our paths may have diverged…"

"You must continue to live out your life with all your might," Alzack and Bisca chimed in, looking proudly at the head of the guild.

"You must never consider your own life to be something insignificant," Freed spoke, the rest of the Raijinshuu standing proudly at his side. Evergreen removed her glasses and wiped her eyes with the back of her hand.

"And you must never forget about your friends, for as long as you live!" Erza finished the farewell address, letting the tears stream down her cheeks. Levy released the script she had been writing and sent fireworks into the sky. The crowd looked up at the exploding colors, pride and understanding beaming in their faces and resolve in the tears collecting at the corners of their eyes.

Lucy's stared at the back of everyone's head as they were watching the color show. The empty hole in her chest continued to grow. Her face scrunched up and she placed her head into her hands. The sound of muffled sobs came from her buried face.

How was she going to be able to go back to a life without Fairy Tail?

It wasn't long after Marakov's announcement that many of the members began to drift off to start down their news paths. Lucy sat down on a larger boulder, her head down. Erza, Wendy, Levy, Gajeel, Carla, and Lily were standing around her.

"He just up and left without talking to you?" Levy asked, furrowing her eyebrows. "I can't believe he would do something like that."

"Salamander… Next time we meet, we are going to finally find out who is stronger," Gajeel grit his teeth and grinned. "Next time, I wont lose!"

"Gajeel, you're not helping any," Levy scolded him.

"Lucy-san…are you going to be ok? What are you going to do now?" Wendy asked in a soft voice. She tilted her head to try and see the blonde's face.

"How can you guys…accept this so easily?" Lucy asked.

The others looked at each other for a moment, unsure how to answer their friend's question.

"Like the master said," Erza spoke up finally, "We must follow our own paths. We will never forget each other, but we must use this time we've had as a basis for our next chapter in life." She patted the back of Lucy's head. "You will understand once-"

"NO!" Lucy shouted, standing up and backing away from everyone. "I will never understand how everyone can just move on, like this is nothing! We are a guild! We are family! We are supposed to always be there for each other no matter what…" Lucy felt the tears come forth again. "How can everyone be ok with this? How can they be ok with never seeing each other again? Why is…everyone…ok with that?"

"I can't…" Lucy's voice began to choke. Her shoulders shook and she clenched her fist at her side. She looked at everyone's face through the haze of tears. "I can't accept this! All I want it to be with everyone, in our guild, why…doesn't anyone else want the same thing?" The hurt began to turn into anger. Lucy glared at them.

"HOW CAN YOU ALL JUST ABDANDON OUR GUILD?"

"Lucy-san-" Wendy began to reach out for her when Lucy turned on her foot and began sprinting away from them. Wendy looked down with a guilty expression. Erza and Levy exchanged worried looks, but no one said anything.

_Alone._

Lucy ran up the stairs and into her apartment slamming her door shut. She leaned against the back of the door, trying to steady herself.

_I will always be alone._

Memories of Aquarius flooded her mind. The broken key lay on her dresser.

"_Stop relying on others!"_ Some of Aquarius's last words flooded her mind. _I can't. I need them. I can't go on, on my own…_

Lucy slid down the door sobbing uncontrollably. Memories began to flood her mind. How many times will she have to go through this? Why whenever she found peace and happiness it had to be taken from her?

Her mother's death, emotional abandonment from her father and his eventual death, losing Michelle and Aquarius, Natsu leaving without saying anything to her…

_Natsu…_

The thought of her pink-haired comrade made her cry even harder. The pain in her chest continued to grow and the emptiness was beginning to take over.

_I knew…if you left…_

_**I would be so lonely.**_


End file.
